The Escape
by Mu5icWolf157
Summary: "Okay, Cat. I have a plan, but we're the only ones that can know," I said, praying that Cat was paying attention. "Now, just think of this as a play or a movie..."  Bade romance, Cade friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**Jade's P.O.V.**

I sat beside Cat In our little cage, trying hard not to cry. I couldn't cry, for Cat's sake. I was Jadelyn August West; I was the strong one. I could make out more little cages scattered across the room, and I knew Andre, Tori, Beck, and Robbie were somewhere in there. At least, that's what made sense; we were all together when we were captured.

Poor Cat was bawling her eyes out, so I let her lean against me and cry into my shoulder. It was dark in the large room, so I wasn't sure what kind of place we were in. I was searching the door for the catch, but I couldn't find one.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and dim light flooded into the room as a huge door swung open on the other side. A woman of around thirty years of age strutted in, her head held high. I immediately hated her, just by the way she held herself. She had that "I'm-in-charge-here-and-you-must-do-whatever-I-say" look about her.

"Hello, children," she said, her voice ringing with that gross sweet tone. "I expect you're all wondering why you're here?"

I snorted and rubbed Cat's back, as she was still crying against me. If that lady did this, she was going to pay. _Nobody_ made Cat cry like that; she was too sweet. It was sickening. I couldn't bear seeing her like this, and I was the mean girl.

"Yeah, you nasty little bitch!" I yelled as loud as I possibly could. "I don't care what you do to me, but you better let Cat out of here, or I swear, I'll—" I was cut off by a sharp stinging in the side of my neck. My hand flew up to the spot and seconds later I blacked out.

**Cat's P.O.V.**

I gasped as Jade fell over underneath me. "Jade!" I squeaked, leaning over her. From somewhere ahead of us, I heard a familiar voice calling Jade's name as well. Beck was here.

The light caught a tiny glint on the surface of something on Jade's neck, and I gingerly touched it, then pulled it out. It was a little dart, like the ones zookeepers use to make animals go to sleep!

I let another little gasp escape before shutting my mouth. Jade was only trying to help me, and she got put to sleep! _This is terrible,_ I thought. I felt new tears leaking out from under my eyelids. I didn't want to end up like Jade, so I made sure not to say anything and I listened to the scary lady.

"...have been brought here for testing purposes," the lady was saying, looking around the room. "This is a science lab that requires human test subjects. Testing with humans has been illegal for a very long time, but we believe that we can make living better and easier like this. How is testing a new drug on a filthy rat from the streets going to help humankind?"

I heard a few murmurs around the room, some approving, some frightened, others just plain angry. The lady turned around a cage in front of me and I could see her properly. She was beautiful, with long silver hair and piercing green eyes. She looked like the kind of person on the movies my brother watches that looks and sounds really nice but ends up trying to kill the good guy. That made me nervous.

I wished Jade was awake right then. I wanted her comfort, or at least Tori or Andre or Beck. I felt so alone in the little cage, even though there were dozens more surrounding that one. I stopped thinking about that when the woman continued talking.

"Well, you are my new test subjects for the teenager section of the laboratory. You will be kept with the person with you now. You will do at least one test a day. You will not try to escape, or you will be subjected to some _harsher_ tests. Is that clear?"

More murmuring.

"You will respond to me with 'Yes, Miss Lilith', understood?" She paused, waiting, and the reply came moments later. I joined in with everyone chorusing "Yes, Miss Lilith". That name scared me, too. I thought I remember reading in my History book once that someone named Lilith was the mother of all the evil spirits in the world. I really hoped that was just a coincidence. A coinkidink! I giggled a little, despite what was happening.

"Now, you will listen for your name. If your name is called, you will be removed from your cage and you will come with me. You will be the ones to work the tests. The rest of you will be moved to a separate room later so you can rest up for testing."

"Yes, Miss Lilith," the room responded. I sat quietly, waiting for the names to be called. I was terrified, but for some reason I wasn't having the panic attack that I thought I would have if I was ever kidnapped.

"Jackson Abrams, Nolan Beasley, Jamal Clayton, Bradley Close, Michael Earls, Carlos Greene, Andre Harris," I let out another little squeak. Andre was here, too. "Marcus Holland, Bryan Malone, Beckett Oliver," At Beck's name, I crawled closer to the front of the cage. I had to know how many of my friends were really in here. "Shawn Screven, and Devin Whittle. The rest of you will be let out in one hour."

I was beginning to see people emerging from cages around the room. They were all guys, and from what I could see, they all looked strong and capable. I may be ditsy, but I wasn't stupid. They had to have strong guys for a reason, and I didn't think it was to stand around looking good.

I started crying softly again as I was able to make out Andre and Beck in the group heading towards Miss Lilith. They were standing side by side, and both their fists were clenched. I turned around, not able to look at them any longer, and I watched Jade, waiting for her to wake up. I hoped it wouldn't take too long; I wanted her awake to steer me in the right direction when our time came to leave...

**Okay, so this was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen, but I hope you guys like it anyway! I'm thinking about switching back and forth between Jade and Cat for the point of view, but I may do a little of Beck later. Please rate and review; it would really be appreciated! Also, I am still continuing iThink with Portals, but I'm still blocked with that. I'm not going to be updating often because I'm also working on a Cade songfic and I have a week of Band Camp left, and that's going to make me exhausted with nine hours of hard work every day, but I'll still try to get another chapter out before the weekend's over!**

**Extremely long author's note: Over.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Jade's P.O.V.**

I woke up with a huge headache and a face full of Cat. She was so close to me that I actually yelled and pushed myself backwards, which resulted in my head hitting a wall. Whoops. At first, I had no idea why Cat was leaning over me, but then I remembered where we were.

Now, though, we were in a larger cage with blankets on the floor. It was about the size of a small bedroom. Three more cages that size were around us, and in the one farthest from us, I thought I could barely make out Tori and Robbie through all of the bars. I didn't recognize anyone in the other two.

"Jade!" Cat yelled. I looked up at her and remembered what had happened. I felt a huge wave of relief seeing that Cat was okay. I was smothered by Cat when she pulled me into a tight hug, and I heard her start crying again.

"Cat, what happened?" I asked, still a little confused. "How long was I out?" All I remembered was a little stinging on my neck and then passing out after yelling at that lady.

"Jade, you've been asleep for a whole day!" Cat sobbed, still holding me. "I—I didn't know if you were still alive or not...and...and when..." I pulled away from Cat. A whole day? God, how was that even possible?

"Is that Tori and Robbie over there?" I asked pointing through the cages to our left. Cat nodded, and it hurt me how sad she looked. I'd never seen her so upset before, not even when we were locked in a foreign prison a few months ago. Her red velvet cupcake hair was disheveled and tangled, and I assumed my streaked hair looked no better. "Do you know why we're here?" I asked.

Cat nodded again, then started explaining what had happened the day before after I'd blacked out. So Andre and Beck were working here, were they? They'd better not be doing it willingly; if they were, they'd know what was coming to them.

"Alright, so we have to do a stupid test every day?" I asked. "What kind of test?" Cat shook her head.

"I don't know," she whined. "Miss Lilith said something about a laboratory and rats not supposed to be helping people..." I cut her off there.

"Cat!" I exclaimed, loud enough to make the people in the cage beside us look over. I lowered my voice. "God, we're guinea pigs! Cat, listen. If we're not let out of here _very_ soon, we're going to have to break out."

**Cat's P.O.V.**

"No!" I gasped. "We can't! We can't break out of here. Remember what I said?" My voice turned into a whisper. "If we try to escape, we have to take worse tests! Anyway, they have to let us out of here eventually, right? Our parents will know we're missing! And Sikowitz or Lane will think something's wrong if none of us are in class."

Jade sat for a moment, silent. "I don't think we're getting out of here," she murmured. "Not unless we do escape. This isn't some kind of kiddy day-care, Cat. If we were going to be able to leave, we wouldn't have been kidnapped. We didn't have any choice."

I furrowed my brow, thinking. "But what about Tori and Robbie and Andre and Beck?" I asked. "We can't leave without them, and we can't talk to them." Jade looked at me all weird.

"Why can't we talk to them?" she asked. I tried not to cry again as I raised my shirt to show her a large bruise on my side.

"Because they hit you. I don't like being hit," I whimpered. Jade stared, her eyes burning with hatred. I put my shirt back down; Jade was scaring me a little with her anger. I could tell she was barely holding in a whole bunch of yelling.

"Well, what did you get to talk to Tori and Robbie about before they hit you?" Jade asked me. I shook my head again.

"Nothing," I whispered. "I was only talking to the people in the cage beside us. I don't think they even know we're here, but last night I heard Robbie whining about Rex, so I knew it was them. I wanna talk to them," I said.

"Have you tried singing?" Jade asked. I tilted my head to one side. What was singing supposed to do? "Cat, they go to the exact same performing arts high school as us. They know our singing voices, and we know theirs...well, at least Vega's. We could at least let them know we're here."

"Oh, I get it!" I squealed, smiling for the first time in around twenty-four hours. "What should we sing?" I asked. I hadn't thought about that, and singing could make this fun!

"Nothing," Jade said. I stopped smiling. "You're not singing, Cat," she told me. "I don't want you to get hit again if it doesn't work." I started to open my mouth, but Jade cut me off. "No, I don't care if you don't want me hurt," she said. "I like pain, remember? It won't bother me."

I frowned and looked down, but didn't object. I knew Jade knew what she was talking about; after all, she had a lot more common sense than me. I listened as Jade started to sing:

"_Here I am, once again._

_Feeling lost, but now and then, I breathe it in to let it go..._

_And you don't know where you are now, _

_or what it would come to if only somebody could hear._

_When you figure out how, you're lost in the moment, you disappear..."_

I gave an excited squeal when another voice joined Jade's. It was definitely Tori's, and I could hear Robbie's voice on the other side of the room. The people in the cages between ours and theirs were looking back and forth between us, but looked too scared to ask us what we were doing.

Jade and Tori finished the song, and Jade smiled at me. "Well?" she said. I squeaked and hugged her. I knew she never really like hugging, but I just couldn't help it.

"Can I try?" I asked. Jade looked at the door on the wall across from us, and when it didn't open, she turned back and nodded. Tori and I spent what felt like a few hours trying to talk through song, but after a while, it got hard to think of a song that would work for what I was trying to say. We eventually just stopped.

When nothing eventful happened in a while, I dozed off on the ground. For a little bit there, I was almost having fun singing with Tori. As I fell asleep, I thought about what was going to happen once the tests started. I hoped it wouldn't be anything painful...

**Chaptah two! Thank you guys so much for the reviews and favorites! I was so surprised when I woke up nine hours after I submitted the story and had so many messages on Hotmail from FF. I'm gonna try as hard as I can now to finish chapter three before the day's over, because I'm going to be swamped once tomorrow starts.**

**ohsnapitzzhannah: Actually, I never thought of Jewish concentration camps once when I was writing this! Haha, but no, I don't think I'm going to do things like that. Thanks for the suggestion, though!**

**Everyone else: Thanks so much for the reviews! And I'm quite fond of going to the dentist and getting that happy serum XD**


	3. Chapter 3 Part 1

**Jade's P.O.V.**

"Caterina Valentine, Jadelyn West?"

I sat up, rubbing my eyes and yawning. I must have fallen asleep earlier after Cat had. "What?" I snapped, irritated. Cat was sitting up, too. A boy with a clipboard was standing in front of our cage. He looked our age, with short brown hair and brown eyes.

"I have to take you to your first tests for the day," the boy announced. "My name is Devin Whittle," he said as he fumbled in his pocked for something. He eventually pulled out a ring of keys, then found the right one and opened the door to our cage.

I stood and helped Cat up, then glared at this "Devin" kid. "I don't trust you," I stated. Cat got up close to me and whispered in my ear.

"He's one of the guys that got called up with Andre and Beck! Maybe he knows where they are." I looked at Cat and asked her if she was sure. After all, she didn't have the best memory. "Positive!" she said, not whispering anymore.

"Alright," I drawled, looking back at Devin. "Where're Beck and Andre?" I demanded. Devin sighed and opened the cage wider.

"Get out," he said. "You have to get to your tests. Beck and Andre aren't allowed in this room," he continued. I stopped in the middle of walking out of the cage.

"Why not?" I snapped, glaring with all my might. If I really had to, I could knock this guy out and make a run for it. He looked at me, just as hostile as I was. That's different; I wasn't used to people not shrinking away from me when I glare at them.

"Because of you," he said. "You're too close. They work a different room. Now, out." Yeah, that's it. I was sick of this guy, and I wasn't about to do some crazy test for this "Miss Lilith" Cat told me about. I drew my fist back and swung it at Devin as hard as I could.

As soon as my fist connected with his gut, I snatched Cat's wrist and ran through the open door behind him, but he recovered much faster than I would have thought possible. He darted right after us and grabbed me with one hand, Cat with the other. I could hear yelling from the other room, and I recognized Tori and Robbie's voices.

"I didn't want to have to do this," Devin said menacingly. I gasped as he slammed Cat's head into the wall and she fell to the ground, unconscious. With his now-free hand, he pulled a large needle out of his pocket. I could see some kind of transparent liquid inside.

I tried to squirm free, but this guy was stronger than anyone I had ever met. He plunged the needle into my skin between my shoulder and neck, and I kept trying to kick him away until I couldn't anymore.

Whatever was in that syringe worked slower than what had hit me the first time. It wasn't hard for Devin to keep me down until I couldn't fight anymore, though. Soon I started feeling dizzy and everything went black again.

**Later**

I clutched my head and moaned as I woke up. My head was literally pounding; it hurt so much worse than last time. I wondered how long I had been out that time, because this time it seemed like so much longer.

I looked around for Cat, but I didn't see her. I was in another room, but not in a cage this time, thankfully. It looked almost like the mental ward of a hospital, but the padded walls were black instead of white.

I forced myself to sit up as a door opened in front of me and a lady with long white hair and bright green eyes entered. "Who are you?" I growled, still shoving a hand against my head.

"Oh, Jadelyn, did you not hear my little speech last week?" she asked. I recognized that disgusting voice from when Cat and I had first found ourselves in those little cages. That must be Miss Lilith. And was that really a week ago?

"No, I was passed out on the floor of that cage," I snarled. I was so angry that if I weren't in so much pain I probably could have attacked her and killed her right then and there. This was too much pain, even for me.

"Right," Miss Lilith said, addressing the wall behind me. "So, you decide on your first day of testing to run away, do you? That's not the smartest thing to do, Jadelyn," she laughed. "One of our first tests was a strength serum. You can't escape by force; those boys are stronger than anyone else could physically be. You—"

"Where's Cat?" I demanded. Miss Lilith looked taken aback about the fact that I had interrupted her, but she regained her composure almost immediately. I have to say, I was impressed. She looked down and started playing with her fingernails.

"Oh, don't worry about her, Jadelyn," she smiled at me, and I wanted to slap that grin right off of her face. "Caterina's with some of my little _friends_. They'll be conducting a test on her right now." She touched a finger to her chin. "I wonder how that's going," she smirked again.

I stood up immediately, then had to steady myself against the wall. "Your little demon worker slammed her head into a wall! She could be hurt!" I yelled.

Miss Lilith put one finger to her lips. "Shush. You're only going to make your life worse if you yell at me, you know. Now, since I'm a nice person, I'm going to give you one more chance to stay with your little friend before you're stuck into solitude. Come with me, we have an experiment to perform."

I knew I couldn't win a fight, and I really didn't want another needle in me. If this headache got any worse, I wouldn't be able to stand myself. I gave up and followed her out of the room. She led me down a bunch of twisted hallways until we reached a large door.

By the time we got there, I was having trouble standing up, so I was glad when Miss Lilith told me to go sit in a chair in the middle of the room. Granted, it was a pretty freaky looking chair, but it was a chair nonetheless. I made my way to the middle of the room and slid down into the chair.

"You don't happen to be testing anything for curing headaches, do you?" I asked. Usually, that would have been sarcasm, but I was dead serious.

"Not today," Miss Lilith said. "Today, we're going to try out something some scientists made yesterday." She slipped a small tube out of the drawer of a desk that was sitting against one wall. The tube was filled with pastel pink liquid that reminded me of Pepto-Bismol.

"This is a powerful medicine used to increase the functionality of the lungs of smokers." she explained. I was just a little confused.

"I'm not a smoker," I told her. She nodded and uncorked the tube.

"I know. You're here so we can see what its effects are on people with healthy lungs. We want to know if it will help them, too, or if it harms them."

"Great," I sighed. "Well, what if I have some allergic reaction to it?" I asked, even though I wasn't that worried about it; I wasn't allergic to many things. Miss Lilith answered as she poured some of the liquid into a syringe.

"If you're allergic to it, you're allergic to it. I can't help that yet, and it's not like I don't have other test subjects if you die for some reason."

Well, that was reassuring. I sat still and let that crazy lady stick me with the needle. I have no idea what I was thinking. Everything seemed fine for a minute or two, but then my breath caught in my throat. I tried to breathe, but I couldn't. I couldn't see Miss Lilith doing anything about it, either.

_Great, here we go again,_ I thought dimly as I slipped into unconsciousness.

**Bit of a cliffhanger here. Kind of? Cat's P.O.V. is going to be the next chapter; I didn't know if I would have time to do that before I have to go to bed, so I'm going to go ahead and upload this before that. Enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 3 Part 2

**Cat's P.O.V.**

I screamed and kicked as hard as I could, but I couldn't fight off the creepy scientists that were trying to hold me down. There were five or six of them, and I would never in a million years even be able to take on one.

Three men held me down while a fourth forced my mouth open and a lady poured something down my throat. I was laying down, so I didn't have any choice but to swallow it. I wasn't listening when they told me what it was supposed to do; all I knew was that I didn't want to take these tests. Especially when Jade said they were bad.

A little bit after I swallowed the liquid, I started feeling really weird. My head got all fuzzy and I couldn't focus on anything, and I felt like I was going to be sick. I tried to raise a hand to my stomach, but my limbs were too heavy to pick up.

My vision started fading, and I passed out.

**Later**

I woke up with a little headache and stomach ache. I opened my eyes and looked around to see if the scientists were anywhere near me, but all I saw was the familiarity of the cage Jade and I had been put in. However, I didn't see Jade.

I heard the jingling of keys and looked up to see Devin standing in front of the door. I squeaked and threw myself as far away from the cage door as I could.

"Please don't hurt me again!" I cried, shielding my face with my arms. I could still remember the pain I had awoken to after he made me hit my head on the wall, and I started tearing up. My eyes shut, I heard the door open and a low thud, then the door slammed closed again.

I slowly removed my arms from my face to find Jade slumped on the floor. She looked hurt, but at least she was awake this time. I got up and ran over to her, then pulled her into a hug. "Jade, I was so scared!" I cried.

She hugged me back, and at that moment I realized just how weak she was. Her arms were loose around my back and she wasn't talking to me. I pulled back and looked her over. She was half laying, half sitting on the ground, supported by the metal bars of the front wall. She was crying.

"Cat," she said softly. Her voice was rough, as if she'd been yelling. "We've got to—" I shushed her. Tears were flowing freely down both our faces now.

"Don't talk," I told her. "You're going to make it worse. I know we have to go, but how?" It was a rhetorical question, and Cat didn't expect Jade to try to talk to her.

"Cat, are you okay?" she asked. "That monster knocked you out on the—" Jade broke off, coughing.

"I'm fine," I lied for the first time in my life. I didn't want Jade worrying about me, especially when she also had her boyfriend to worry about. Neither of us had mentioned Beck in a while, but I knew we were both scared for him and Andre. Tori and Robbie, too, but I felt better about them because they were in the same room.

Which made me think. Someone must have brought Jade in here; she couldn't sit up, let alone get herself back here. I was sure Tori and Robbie would have tried to get her attention, if just a little, but I hadn't heard their voices when Jade came in. I peered through the bars to the left. I didn't see anyone in the cage on the far side of the room, the one that belonged to Tori and Robbie. They must have been testing.

That reminded me of something else. I swear, I'm remembering more things than I ever have at one point in my life! I did see Andre earlier, and I had managed to tell him what room we were in before I was whisked away by those scientists.

"Jade! I saw Andre earlier!" I gasped. "I told him which room we were in, and he could have told Beck! We might see them!" I smiled a little. At least I had a little good news to share with Jade.

"Don't get your hopes up," Jade told me between fits of coughing. "They're not allowed in here, remember? They could get hurt..."

I couldn't take it anymore. Jade was supposed to be so strong! Nothing could make her give up, nothing could hurt her! "Jade, what happened to you?" I yelled uncharacteristically. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the guys in the cage beside us staring.

Jade just shook her head. I sighed and lay down to go to sleep. Maybe that was all Jade needed, a little sleep. It didn't take long at all for me to doze off.

I woke up to someone shaking me. "Cat!" I heard Jade hiss in my ear. I blinked open my eyes and found Jade crouched in front of me, grinning.

"Jade? Did something good happen?" I asked, since I couldn't find any good reason why she would be smiling like that; she barely even did that when we _weren't_ held captive by a creepy lady.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. To my relief, her voice sounded a little better. "Cat, you were right! Andre and Beck are here; look!" Jade moved to the side a little, and I saw the two guys outside the cage. I squealed and got up to get closer to my friends.

"Beck! Andre!" I yelped. Jade stood beside me, holding Beck's hand through the bars. Andre smiled just a little bit, but he didn't look as happy as he normally did.

"Hey, Little Red," he said. "How're you guys holding up in there?" he asked. I frowned a little and looked at Jade. She glanced at Andre, then shifted her gaze back to Beck. I guessed I'd have to tell them about what's been happening.

"Guys, the mean scientists hurt us!" I whispered. "They pushed me into a wall and made me swallow stuff that made me sick, and Jade came back earlier and she couldn't even sit up straight!" The words poured out of my mouth, and I wasn't able to stop them. "I wanna leave!"

I started crying a little, and noticed that everyone else was teary-eyed too. "Guys, what do you do here?" Jade asked. I didn't know why it mattered, but Jade had to have a reason for asking. Beck and Andre shuddered, then looked from me to her. Beck leaned as close to the bars as he could and whispered something to Jade that I couldn't hear.

"An incinerator?" Jade gasped. She looked horrified, an expression I'd never seen on her face before. "What about outside? Are we still in Hollywood?"

"I have absolutely no idea where we are," Beck responded. We could still be in California, or we could be in Tennessee for all we know. I've only been outside once. There's a giant forest out there, and a huge fence around the facility."

"Is the forest really thick?" Jade asked eagerly. Now Beck, Andre and I were all staring at her really weird.

"Um, yeah, it is...why...?" Jade nodded and moved to the opposite corner of the cage, then beckoned Beck over. He went around the cage to meet with her. They whispered a few things together, then Beck started looking really upset and angry.

Jade and Beck joined Andre and I again after a few minutes. "What's wrong?" I asked Beck. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Jade is convinced we're all going to die in here," Beck stated. "And we're _not_," he said firmly before Jade could butt in.

"I'm just saying, if this keeps going on, we're eventually not going to be able survive these tests. I was almost asphyxiated the other day!" Jade insisted. "And from what Beck's told me, we wouldn't be the first!"

I was about to tell Jade she was wrong, but a buzzing interrupted me. "Great," Beck muttered, looking down at his feet.

"We gotta go," Andre said. He stepped away from the cage. "We'll try to get back in here tomorrow, alright?" Jade and I nodded, and the guys left the room.

I sighed and sat down. Jade walked up to me and pulled me to the wall farthest from the other cages and sat, motioning for me to do the same, and I did.

"Cat, I need to tell you about something," she said.

**I'm about to head out for Band Camp now! Wish me luck! So, we have Beck and Andre in this chapter. **

**JadePlusBeck: Don't worry, I'm getting there XD There'll be plenty more Bade soon.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Jade's P.O.V.**

I lowered my voice so that only Cat could hear. "Okay, Cat, I have a plan, but we're the only ones that can know," I said, praying Cat was paying attention. "Now think of this as a play or a movie, okay?"

"Think of what as a play or a movie?" Cat asked, tilting her head. I laughed a little; maybe the clueless Cat I've known since first grade was still here.

"The _plan_," I told her. This could be harder than I thought. If this was going to go right, Cat had to do exactly as I said. I'd formed the plan when Beck told me what he and Andre had to do every day. It was pretty gruesome, so they didn't tell Cat.

Beck and Andre had to take the people that had died and burn them in an incinerator. When I took him to the opposite corner, I made him promise that if we died, he would take our bodies deep into the forest instead.

Of course, I didn't plan on dying anytime soon, but I couldn't get myself thrown into a fire. What I had in mind was dangerous, but I had to do something before all of my friends ended up dead. Vega and Robbie...I think I could live without them, but to tell the truth, I didn't want to be the reason they don't get of here.

"What plan?" Cat asked, and I glared at her, trying to get her to just listen.

"The one I'm about to tell you about," I growled. "Pay attention. This could be how we get out of here." Cat got focused and nodded, and I continued. "Tomorrow night, I'm going to pretend I die. Okay?"

Cat looked confused. "Why?" she asked. I sighed, scolding myself for not explaining first.

"Cat, we're actresses. Right?" Cat nodded. "Right. So we have to play to our abilities. Tomorrow, when everyone else in here's asleep, I'll lay down and stay as still as I can." Cat looked scared, but she nodded anyway. "And then when you wake up, you pretend I've died, alright? Try to make it as realistic as you possibly can. And whatever you do, Cat, you _must_ make sure Beck takes me away. Nobody else, not even Andre. And they can't know I'm still alive, either. Got it?" I asked.

Cat looked a little happier now. "So like an acting test!" she said. "Improv! But we're the only ones that know what our characters are?"

"Yeah, like that..." I murmured. I really didn't want to leave Cat alone in here; that was probably going to be the hardest part of this little act. However, I couldn't think of any other way to get out, and after all, this was just another chance to perform. Right?

But I couldn't shake the feeling that this would all go wrong.

**Later**

I stumbled back into the cage after my test the next day. This time I was lucky: it didn't cause me any physical pain; I was just a little cold and dizzy. Cat was already sitting down and waiting for me. She didn't seem hurt either, thankfully.

I walked up and sat down beside her. "Hi!" she exclaimed. How was she so happy again all of a sudden? She pulled me into a hug, then gasped and let go. "Ew, Jade, you're all cold!" she said, and rubbed her hands together as if they were freezing. I looked at her, confused.

"Am I really _that_ cold?" I asked, touching my arms. I just felt a little chilly was all, and my skin was a little paler than usual.

"Deathly cold!" Cat squeaked. "You feel like you've been out in a snowstorm or something!" She giggled. "I love snow! It's so white!"

I smiled a little and shook my head. Even if she had been uncharacteristically serious this past week, she'd always be the same airheaded Cat. I told her to rest up for the "play" tomorrow morning, and she eventually fell asleep in a corner.

I waited until I thought it was almost morning and checked to make sure everyone else was asleep. I maneuvered myself into a comfortable position that I thought I could hold for a long time and stayed there with my eyes closed, waiting for Cat to wake up.

**Well, this chapter is really short. I'm sorry! Haha, I didn't know whether or not to go ahead and go through Jade's plan in this chapter or not, and I decided not to so I could upload this now. Yesterday was the last day of Band Camp, so for the next two weeks I should be updating more often! It went pretty well, but towards then end of our parent preview, it started sprinkling so we had to skip some of the rehearsal stuff and go ahead and play the opener. The director was very proud ^.^ And to answer the questions about how the gang was captured and what Cat had to swallow, I can't tell you xD I didn't think of how that happened, and I don't plan on making something up. Just use your imaginations :D **

**OH, and one more thing! ohsnapitzzhannah has been reviewing every chapter of this story, and I'm very thankful! She is writing a story right now called Cat's Little Secret, and she's having trouble writing because of lack of motivation, so go read the story and give it some looove!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Cat's P.O.V.**

My first thought when I woke up was _Jade's dead. _You see, I knew she wasn't really dead, but I do that sometimes to get into character. I try to make the scene seem real to me, even if it isn't realistic at all. Like if I had to be a unicorn, I would start thinking thoughts about rainbows and butterflies and prancing around in a pretty meadow, with a beautiful flowing mane and tail!

And...I'm getting out of character again. I really concentrated on what I had to do, then sat up and pretended to just be waking up. I yawned stretched my arms out a little, then looked over at Jade. She was laying on her back with one arm draped over her stomach, and with her pale skin it really did look like she was dead. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw that the others were starting to wake up, too. Show time!

I crawled over to my friend and sat on my legs. "Jade?" I whimpered. She didn't move. She was better than I thought she would be at staying still. "Jade?" I asked again, louder this time. With my peripheral vision, I saw one of the guys in the cage beside look over. "Jade!" I yelled. This time I grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little. I definitely had everyone else's attention now.

"Jade, please wake up!" I cried, letting real tears slide out of my eyes. Crying on demand seemed even easier now that I'd been crying almost every day for over a week. I reached out and placed a hand on Jade's neck, as if feeling for a pulse. I flinched; she was still really cold.

I heard the door beside us open, and I ignored it, continuing with my act. I drew back to make it seem as if I'd given up on trying to wake Jade up, and started sobbing into my hands.

"Oh, my God-" I heard someone say, and I slowly looked up to see Beck staring into the cage. "Cat, what's wrong with Jade?" he yelled, rushing to the door of the cage. He swiftly drew a some keys out of his pocket and kept jamming one after another into the lock.

"Beck!" I whined. "I—I don't know what happened! I just woke up and she was...she was..." I broke off, crying again. "You said we weren't gonna die in here, and now look!" I exclaimed. Beck must have finally found the right key, because the metal door slammed open and he was crouched beside me in an instant. I was dimly aware of shouting in the background; I concluded that most of it was coming from Tori and Robbie.

Beck reached out to touch Jade, but as soon as his skin made contact with hers he drew back, shocked. "She's so cold!" he exclaimed. His breathing started to quicken, and I could see the shine of tears in the corners of his eyes. He was a really good friend of mine too, and I really hated doing this without him knowing what was really going on, but Jade had told me that even he and Andre couldn't know, so I kept my word and didn't tell him.

Beck gently brushed a stray lock of hair off of Jade's face, then murmured, "I have to get her out of here before someone else gets a hold of her and..." He didn't finish. He was crying freely now. I sat back and wiped at my eyes as he picked Jade up bridal style and carried her out of the cage. I have to say, she did a very good job of staying limp. I wouldn't be able to do that; I'd probably have freaked out when I was picked up, but then again, Jade was one of the best at Hollywood Arts.

I watched silently, tears still dripping down my face, as Beck shut the door behind him with his foot and took Jade through the door. I hoped whatever she had in mind for this plan worked.

**Beck's P.O.V.**

I was so shocked and confused that I had trouble carrying Jade's body. How had this happened? I swear, that lady is going to pay; she...she killed my Jade. My girlfriend of three years...I never thought _this_ was how we'd be separated...

What was I going to do without her? I looked down at her limp form in my arms. She was still so beautiful...even in death. I held her closer to me despite the cold of her skin. "Oh, Jade..." I whispered. Tears dripped off of my cheeks and onto her as I carried her through the facility.

I finally reached the back exit and shoved the door open with my shoulder. It was actually kind of nice out here, with all of the green, and it wasn't even that hot. As I promised, I carried Jade into the forest until I couldn't see the huge building anymore. I wandered around a little until I found the perfect place: a huge flat rock that was just long enough to lay Jade on.

I lay Jade on the stone and straightened out her hair a little; she was always messing with her hair. I stood with my head bowed for a minute, then leaned down and kissed her forehead before turning around and forcing myself away.

**Jade's P.O.V.**

Everything was fine until Beck whispered my name as he was carrying me. His voice was filled with pain, and I couldn't even imagine what he was feeling right then. I wanted so badly to jump out of his arms and hug him and show him that I was all right, but I knew I couldn't do that. I was actually fighting tears back, and I was surprised he didn't notice.

I managed to keep myself still until he left, even though it was extremely difficult. He kissed my forehead, and then he was gone. I waited five minutes, counting to three hundred in my head, before I let myself move.

I was pretty stiff when I finally sat up, so I took a few minutes to stretch out before I even started to think about what I should do.

That's when I realized I couldn't think. I tried, but I just couldn't concentrate. _Maybe a little singing will help clear my mind,_ I thought. If I didn't sing too loudly then there was little to no chance of anyone hearing me. I started to sing one of my favorite songs, though most people knowing me wouldn't have guessed I liked the Rolling Stones.

"_Childhood living is easy to do_

_The things you wanted I bought them for you_

_Graceless lady, you know who I am_

_You know I can't let you slide through my hands_

_Wild horses couldn't drag me away_

_Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away_

_I watched you suffer a dull aching pain_

_Now you've decided to show me the same_

_But no sweet, vain exits or offstage lines_

_Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind_

_Wild horses couldn't drag me away_

_Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away_

_Faith has been broken, tears must be cried_

_Let's do some living after love dies_

_Wild horses couldn't drag me away_

_Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day_

_Wild horses couldn't drag me away_

_Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them someday..."_

I really shouldn't have taken the time to sing a five-minute song, considering my friends were still trapped in that place, but I wasn't having the best thinking day.

I got up and crept through the forest, trying to find the building. After about ten minutes of pushing my way through stupid ferns, I found the large gray wall of what must have been where we'd come from. A single metal door stood in the middle of the concrete and beside it was what looked like a large power generator.

Idiot! Did that lady really think it would be safe to keep a generator that big in plain sight? I looked around to make sure nobody was out, then slipped out of the forest and over to the giant metal box. I found the power switch on the side furthest from the door; it had a big black handle and everything. I'd always wanted to pull one of those.

I reached out to pull the lever, and just about jumped twenty feet in the air when I heard the door open. I crammed myself as far into the corner between the generator and the wall as I could, and held my breath.

My heart sank as I heard footsteps approaching me. I closed my eyes and waited to be shot with something again, but all I got was a loud scream. My eyes flew open and I saw Andre standing stock still, staring at me.

**Cliffhanger! Kinda. Looks like Jade FAILED. We have a little pointlessness in here, but I've been listening to Liz's cover of Wild Horses for a while, and I LOVE it! You can find it here: ****.com/watch?v=7bcr3RTEqSE**** I couldn't help but to find a place to put it in here. If you haven't heard it yet, you should go check it out!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Jade's P.O.V.**

I didn't know what to say; I just stood there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot. "Uh..." was all I could get out. I guess Andre would have the first say in this, though he seemed a bit lost for words, too.

"Jade...Cat and Beck, they...how...you're _dead!_" he exploded. He seemed frightened. Strange. I was the one that should be scared; I was just caught by one of my friends after I "died", about to turn off the power in some creepy science lab.

"Well, I can tell you're glad to see me," I said, rolling my eyes. "Get over here," I ordered. Andre approached me slowly, as if he wasn't sure I was real. When he was standing about two feet away, I growled, "Look at me closely...do I _look_ dead to you?"

"Um, not really," Andre replied. "But Beck...he came and found me after...he seemed so convinced that you'd died; everyone else too, for that matter. You wanna explain why you're standing here right now?"

"Look, I pretended I was dead to get out, and now I have to help the rest of you. Only Cat was supposed to know, but it looks like that's down the drain! You can't let Beck know, you hear me?" I asked, my patience thin.

"Why can't I tell Beck?" Andre questioned. "He's so depressed it's not even funny! You _know_ you're the love of his life, and I don't like my best friend being all sad like that."

I glared at him, even if I knew he was right. Beck just couldn't know about this. "If Beck finds out, he'll try to stop me from going through with my stupid undeveloped plan! He _cannot_ know I'm alive, at least not until we're all on our way out of here. You _do_ understand why I have to hurt him like that, right?" I asked. I knew I was crying a little, but that was okay; everyone has been acting weird since we were captured.

"And Cat knew about this?" Andre asked, and I nodded in response.

"Well, it's not like she couldn't know; we were sharing a cage. Anyway, I needed her to act like I was dead, not like I was having a nice long beauty sleep! Now, are you going to do us all a favor and not tell Beck about this?" I asked, my voice slightly threatening.

Andre sighed and nodded, and I knew it was hard for him to give up like that. I hoped we got out of there soon so we could go on with our normal lives.

**Beck's P.O.V.**

I glared at Miss Lilith, my fists clenched. "You heard me," I growled. "I want you to let me and my friends go. My girlfriend is _dead!_ Do you not care about that at all?"

"Now, Beckett, you know we can't just let you go," Miss Lilith said through a fake smile. "You'd just go run and tell the cops about us. We can't have that, now can we?" That was it. That was the final straw. I rarely get violent, but when I do, I mean it. I swung a fist, not caring where it hit, just making sure that it landed on Miss Lilith.

Yeah, I know it's kind of illegal for men to hit women, but this didn't count, right? She was a kidnapper and murderer.

I was jolted out of my thoughts when Miss Lilith's hand flicked up and _caught my fist._ I couldn't believe it; her grip was so strong that I couldn't twist out of it. In the course of a second, she'd managed to grab my other hand, too, and shoved me against a wall.

"Well, I guess I just can't trust you to work for me anymore, now can I?" she asked.

**Cat's P.O.V.**

I sat in the corner of the cage three hours later, still crying. I wasn't still acting, but I missed Jade and I hated being alone. I wished that this was all some stupid nightmare and I'd wake up in the morning and I'd eat some red velvet cupcakes and go to school and have fun in Sikowitz's class, but I knew that a dream couldn't possibly carry on for this long.

Tori and Robbie were yelling at me through the other two cages, demanding to know what had happened, but I didn't try to answer. They gave up after about half an hour when the door opened. They must not have wanted to be caught trying to talk to me.

I heard grunting and yelling, and Beck was thrust through the door, followed by Miss Lilith. Somehow she was holding both his hands behind his back with only one of hers, and she opened the door to my cage and shoved Beck into it.

"Beck!" I cried. Why was he here? Miss Lilith paused in her retreat when I called Beck's name, and she grinned. It freaked me out, because it looked almost like one of Jade's evil grins.

"Are you one of Beckett's friend?" she asked. Not knowing what else to do, I nodded. Beck looked at me with desperation in his eyes, as if telling her I was his friend was the worst thing in the world to do. Turns out, it was.

"Well then, I guess I'm going to have to take her with me. I think seeing her die will be punishment enough, don't you?" she asked, directing the rhetorical question at Beck.

"No!" Beck yelled, but the lady had already slipped back into the cage and grabbed my wrist, pulling me out of the room and away from my friend.

**I feel like it took me forever to write this chapter, even though it's kinda short. I had a headache earlier today and I felt like I was staring at my email all day and yesterday waiting for a message about a story being updated, but that didn't happen, so I've been kind of deprived of reading new chapters of other people's stories :( God, I need a life XD I'll try to get the next chapter up soon!**

**Darlin24: Your review from chapter 5 cracked me up XD I don't know how many people actually caught it, but Jade wanted Beck to take her away because she wasn't positive if Andre knew about taking them to the forest, not because she's freakishly attached to him or something :D  
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**ohsnapitzzhannah: I was wondering how many people were thinking that! As I was writing it, I was like 'this seems kind of like I'm hinting that Jade's really dead...but oh well!'**


	8. Chapter 7

**Beck's P.O.V.**

"No!" I yelled again. "You get your ass back here!" I called, but the only response I got was Lilith's giggling as she made her way down the hall, farther and farther away.

No, no, no, _no!_ Cat couldn't die, too! _Especially_ not because of me. God knows what that woman will do to her...and where was Andre? Wouldn't he be wondering where I was? If he got here quickly enough, I could get him to go find Cat...

But no, he would end up the same way, and I couldn't let them both die. Dear lord, I just wanted to rip my hair out right then. How many of us would have to die before this was all over? All of us?

I jumped up from where I was sitting when I heard an earsplitting scream...Cat. I started yelling her name, pushing against the metal door though I knew it wasn't going to budge. I heard Tori and Robbie start to join in when they realized what was happening; by their voices, I could tell they were in tears, as well as me.

The screaming was cut short, and soon Lilith appeared at the door again. She carried a limp Cat in her arms, a smirk on her face. "Here," she said, opening the door of the cage and dumping Cat on the floor. I didn't even bother attacking her; it was pointless. Everything was pointless now. "I don't know whether or not she's still alive. If she is, she won't be for long."

With that, she relocked the door of the cage and strutted out of the room, her head held high, her face smug.

My heart was heavy as I approached Cat. I checked her pulse; it was still there, but it was very slow and faint. I looked her over for wounds, but I couldn't tell what Lilith had done to her. I didn't know how to help her...what kind of person was I? If only I'd chosen to take my advanced health class before next year, I may have been able to do something! But no, I had to choose salsa dancing instead, so I could be with Jade!

Well, here I was, with a dead girlfriend and a dying best friend. Could this get any worse? I pulled Cat into my lap and gently stroked her hair, hoping she wasn't in much pain. My head snapped up when the door opened again, and I was ready to yell the chizz out of Lilith.

But instead of Lilith, it was Andre that walked in. He looked kind of happy at first, until he saw Cat and I. "Beck! What are you doing in there?" he asked. "What—Is something wrong with Cat?" His voice held fear; I knew that Andre had a small crush on her.

"I...yes," I sighed, defeated. "I got mad at Miss Lilith for not letting us go...she threw me in here and found out Cat and I were friends...it's all my fault..." I started crying. "She took Cat into the hall; she told me she was going to kill her...she's still alive, but only barely..."

Tears were streaking Andre's face now, too. "No, Beck. It's not your fault...I'll take her. I'll make sure she doesn't die in that cage," he whispered.

Andre got the keys to the cage and gently picked up Cat's motionless form in his strong arms. I knew how he felt, and I hated that we both had to go through this. Andre paused before leaving the room and told me, "Don't give up."

**Jade's P.O.V.**

I paced around the rock Beck had originally lain me on, waiting anxiously for Andre to return. I'd found a way out! If we could get everyone out the building, there was a way to get out of this wretched place forever. When Beck had told us that it was fenced in, he forgot to mention that the "fence" was a freaking _ten foot wall. _

It didn't matter, though. As long as everyone was able to climb we could do this. I heard rustling, and I looked up. I saw the blue of Andre's shirt and..._red velvet cupcake red!_

"Cat, you got out!" I exclaimed, excited. I bounded toward my friends, and skidded to a halt when I got a clearer view of them. Cat wasn't walking...Andre was carrying her, and...he was sobbing. "Andre..." I whispered, my silver eyes wide and probably sparkling with tears.

I rushed toward them. This couldn't be happening! Cat wasn't...she wasn't _dead_...was she? She had to be acting, like I had been...but, no. I knew that wasn't possible; Andre was in on the plan, and he was devastated.

Cat lay limp, looking so small in Andre's dark muscular arms. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I became short of breath. I looked up into Andre's eyes, and they told me this was definitely no act.

Without a word, Andre crouched down and lay Cat on the rock. He took her hand and gently rubbed it. I sat on the ground on her other side. After a few minutes, Andre finally spoke. "She's still alive, but without a hospital, she probably won't make it..."

My eyes widened at that. "She's still _alive?_" I practically yelled. "Why would you scare me like that? If she's still alive, she's going to _stay_ that way, got it, Andre Harris?" I snapped. He just sighed and looked back to Cat. Frustrated, I picked her up and started walking away. I was definitely strong enough to carry the small girl; I just hoped I'd be able to get her over that wall.

"What're you doing?" Andre called after me. I heard him stand and run after me. "Jade, where are you taking her?" he asked me. I continued walking, knowing he would follow.

"I'm getting her out of this filthy place. There are some trees right by the base of that "fence", and I think I can get her over. Come with me so you know where to cross, then go back and get everyone else out, somehow." I ordered.

"But how?" he asked. The boy was usually smarter than this; too bad he couldn't use his brain when we really needed it.

"Find a way," I snarled. "I'm going to look after Cat." I wasn't going to leave my best friend alone like this. Especially...especially if she _did_ pass away at some point. But I couldn't think like that; I had to have faith for the girl I've known since first grade. She _couldn't_ die now, not when we were so close to going home.

I finally reached a huge Ginkgo Biloba tree with thick branches that started unusually close to the ground. I placed Cat in Andre's arms to climb onto the first branch and took her back so Andre could climb up, too. It was going to take the both of us to get our friend up this tree.

Eventually we reached the top of the concrete wall, and I took Cat one last time. I'd never jumped ten feet before, but if couldn't be that hard, right? I held Cat close to me and slid off, bending my legs a little to break the fall. It was a little jarring, but it wasn't too bad. I looked solemnly back up at Andre and nodded, and he disappeared down the tree again.

**Andre's P.O.V.**

I didn't know what to think...obviously, Cat wasn't doing too well, but Jade was convinced she would be fine. Of course, I wished it could be that easy, but it would be a miracle if Cat survived, and I didn't want my hopes up.

On another note, how was I supposed to get Beck, Tori, and Robbie out of the building? It would look suspicious if they all "died" at once, so that was out of the question. I could have acted like I was taking them to a test, but I could only do that with Tori and Robbie; Lilith knew Beck and I were friends.

But how was Beck going to get out? It was too dangerous to create a diversion; who knew what some of these people could do. I thought of how we'd gotten out of the Yerbanian prison a few months ago, but that idea was quickly crushed. Lilith (I refused to put 'Miss' at the beginning of her name anymore) wasn't the kind of person that would be a music appreciator.

Well, I guess Beck could die. He was a good actor, and maybe it could be blamed on losing one of his best friends and his girlfriend within a day. What other choice did we have?

I set off toward the facility, ready to tell the others the plan.

**First time doing Andre's point of view, and I sprinkled in a little bit of Candre! And guys, I don't know if you people know how fun it is to scare you XD But I'm afraid you're still going to have to wait to see whether or not Cat dies...*evil laughter* Weird; in the two days since I've last updated, it seems like I've had the worst writer's block ever, and then it's just...*poof*...gone! It took me from 8pm to 10:45 to write this. Yay for writing a chapter in less than three hours!**

**We also have a reference from "Locked Up" in here, so if you haven't seen that episode, then...I don't know what to tell you, 'cause I don't want to spoil it :) Enjoy!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Andre's P.O.V.**

I strolled into the room containing my friends nearly an hour and a half after I'd left it, using my best acting skills to look as if I was serious and uncaring like the rest of the ganks that work there. I stopped in front of Beck's cage and beckoned him over.

He looked at me, probably wondering why I wasn't upset anymore, and greeted me without enthusiasm.

"Beck, listen, I know how to get you out of here," I said, then explained the plan to him, making it brief so I wasn't caught talking to him for so long.

When I finished, he nodded and gave me a weak smile. "Alright, just don't carry me like I'm a girl," he joked. I wanted to smile to encourage him, but I had to stay as in-character as I could. I nodded and walked to the far of the room where Tori and Robbie shared a cage. I can't believe neither Beck nor myself had actually come talk to them before then.

I found the key to the door and opened it, roughly grabbing Tori's wrist in my right hand and Robbie's in my left. Tori started to speak, but I cut her off. "Just shut up and go with it," I hissed under my breath, then said in a normal tone of voice, "I've got to take you to your tests, and I ain't going to put up with any crap."

It took me about ten minutes to lead my two friends out of the building and into the forest without being caught with them. It was easy until I got closer to the back door, where there was a strict "no 'test subjects'" rule.

When I thought we were far enough into the forest to be safe, I dropped my friends' arms and waited for them to ask questions. I knew it was going to happen; those two question everything.

"Andre, what's been going on? What happened to Jade and Cat?" Tori asked. I was glad Robbie was refraining from asking something stupid so I could try to explain this. In my moment of hesitation, Tori's face fell and she whispered, "They...they died, didn't they?"

"We've got a way out of here," Andre said, avoiding Tori's last two questions. It was too difficult for me to think of Cat right now. "Come on, I've got to get you out, and then I'll come back for Beck," I murmured, starting to go off in the direction of the Ginkgo tree.

For once, Tori and Robbie didn't argue or hold me back, but only followed me with solemn faces. When we reached the right tree, I told them to climb it and jump off to the other side, then asked if they could handle it.

Robbie had started to say something, probably some remark about that being far too long a fall for him, but Tori cut him off saying, "We'll be fine." I nodded and turned to go fetch Beck.

**Jade's P.O.V.**

Since Andre had left, I'd stayed in the same position with Cat laying across my lap. I'd made sure to regularly check her pulse, just to be safe, even if I knew it wouldn't help anything. I guess I just needed to make sure my best friend hadn't left yet.

I froze when I saw movement above me, then relaxed when I realized what it was. Without looking down, Tori and Robbie had both appeared on the top of the wall a little to the right of Cat and I.

They seemed to be having an argument about something, and I couldn't help but to chuckle a little to myself when I realized what discussion they must be having. Robbie's such a chicken.

"Just shove him off!" I yelled to Vega. They both flinched, and Robbie actually _fell_ off. Whoops. Apparently, they didn't know we were down there. A second later, Tori had slid off of the edge of the wall and landed beside Robbie.

"Jade, you're okay!" Tori yelled happily. Why was she so excited to see me? We're supposed to hate each other...but then again, I did feel relief that she and Robbie had gotten out all right.

"Yeah..." I murmured, looking down at Cat. "She should be the one that got out okay," I sighed. Cat had never done one wrong thing in her life; she didn't deserve to be hurt so badly. I looked up at Tori and realized she was crying silently. Robbie had also sat up and begun to cry.

Seeing both of them like that somehow made it okay for me to start sobbing as well. I'd never cried so much in my entire life, not even when I had broken up with Beck for a couple of days. Tori came and sat on one side of me, and Robbie on the other; I don't think he was really that scared of me right then.

I don't know how long we sat there, but it was long enough for all three of us to fall asleep. I felt someone gently shaking me, and I opened my eyes. Andre leaning over me, and Robbie and Tori were waking up, too.

"Jade, Beck's coming," he said, and I was immediately wide awake. He gave me a weak smile. "I'm sure he'll be glad to see you."

"Can you take Cat?" I asked. He nodded and scooped her off of me and onto his own lap. I stood and stretched out a little because I was stiff, and waited patiently. After what seemed like hours, though it couldn't be longer than two minutes, I heard a soft thud and Beck had landed in front of me.

Before he even saw me, I threw myself at him and pulled him into a passionate kiss. I put all of my emotion into it, trying to tell him I was sorry for pretending I was dead. It only went on for a few seconds before Beck pulled away, his eyes wide.

"Jade!" he exclaimed. "You...you're alive!" I paused, then turned to glare at Andre.

"You didn't _tell_ him?" I growled. Andre glanced up from Cat.

"You told me not to!" he complained. Dear lord! And he didn't think to tell Beck after they were all out? Oh well, it didn't matter now. I just pulled Beck into another kiss, glad beyond reason to be back with him.

To my frustration, he pulled away again after a while, looking troubled. "Why?" he asked. I explained to him my original plan. When I finished, he looked behind me at Andre and Cat. "But Cat...she's not acting, is she?" he murmured, phrasing it like a statement rather than a question.

I shook my head sadly and turned to Andre. "How's she doing?" I asked in the most gentle voice I could muster.

"She's holding up," Andre replied. "But we've got to get her to a hospital. Anyway, Lilith's going to notice we're all missing soon, and I'm willing to bet she'll come looking for us. We can't be anywhere near this place when she does."

He stood and gently picked Cat up. "Let's just get out of here," he said, walking in the opposite direction of the facility. Robbie and Tori followed him without question. I took Beck's hand and we set off, hoping we were somewhere near a normal town or city.

**Bad ending...Now, I gotta go start cleaning the house for my party tonight. I haven't planned out what happens next, so...it may take a while to get the next chapter out. I'm also going to be working on a photo mosaic of Ariana and Liz, and that's going to take me quite a while (it took me an hour for twenty tiles) Enjoy!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Cat's P.O.V.**

The first thing I became aware of was the pain. It felt as if something was clawing at the inside of my chest every time I took a breath, no matter how small it was. I didn't remember anything except for Miss Lilith shoving a huge needle into the soft skin under my ribcage, and my own screaming.

Since then, all I've known was black, black sleep and pain. A few times, I thought I heard some familiar voices, but I didn't know whose they were or what they were saying. Sometimes I wished they would speak more often; I felt really lonely.

As if the voices were reading my mind, they began again, softly. They whispered back and forth around me, discussing something I didn't understand. I could only pick up the few odd words, like "lost", "quick", and "hospital". I didn't know what they meant together, but I was curious. How was I to find out?

_It's your friends,_ some voice in the back of my mind said. I hadn't heard that one before...was that me? _You can't leave your friends without you,_ I thought to myself.

But the urge to just give up was so strong! It would be so much easier just to do that. _But what about Jade? And Andre, Beck, and Tori? Even Robbie and Trina?_

I couldn't. I couldn't just give up.

With all the strength I could gather, physical and emotional, I wrenched myself into motion. My eyelids fluttered open and I tried to speak, but at first a low moan was all I could get out.

**Jade's P.O.V.**

I walked between Andre and Beck as we tried to find our way out of this maze of a forest. I was just about to suggest we take a break when I saw a tiny flicker of movement through Cat's red hair.

At first, I thought it was just the breeze moving her hair, but a moment later I heard a little moan issue from her mouth. "Cat!" I exclaimed, and I stopped walking. Everyone else halted just after me. Did no one else really notice that?

I stood in front of Andre, where I could see Cat's face. Her eyes were open, and she was looking at me, though she looked a little unfocused and confused.

"J-Jade?" she whispered. Her voice cracked**,** probably because she hadn't been using it. How had she suddenly woken up? In her condition, that had seemed almost physically impossible. I saw her gaze shift up. "Andre?"

Andre hugged Cat a little closer to him, and I saw tears squeezing out of his eyes. "I'm here, Lil' Red," he whispered.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "What did that freak demon do to you?" There were so many different things; if we knew how she'd gotten hurt, we might be able to help her.

"I...she had a really big needle," Cat murmured sleepily. "Sing me a song?" she asked. She sounded really drowsy, but that was understandable, I think.

"Um...what song?" I asked as Andre crouched down to lay her on the ground. It was a strange request, but I was going to let her have what she wanted.

"'Colors of the Wind'," she answered, closing her eyes. It was one of her favorite songs, from Pocahontas. Secretly, I liked the song too; it was powerful and beautiful. I wasn't going to start at the beginning though; I knew Cat didn't like that part.

"_You think you own whatever land you land on; the Earth is just a dead thing you can claim._

_But I know every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name."_

I cried as I sang, but I didn't let it mar the song. I was reminded of all of the times I'd spent the night at Cat's house, watching boring Disney movies like "The Little Mermaid" and "The Beauty and the Beast". As much as I hated watching them over and over again, I'd rather watch them every day for the rest of my life as opposed to this.

By the time I finished the song, Cat was sound asleep. I hoped that wasn't a bad thing. I exchanged a glance with Andre, then checked her pulse. It felt stronger than it was earlier, and I heaved a sigh of relief. Cat was strong; she was going to make it through this.

However, we still had the little issue of getting ourselves out of these woods. We'd been wandering on for almost an entire day, and there was nothing that signaled the fact that we were almost out.

The forest had changed since we started. Where before it had been thick and full of ferns and ivy, it had transformed into bare gray-brown woods without much vegetation. "How big can a forest be?" Vega asked after a while. Cat was back in Andre's arms and we'd been continuing on for another hour.

Nobody bothered to answer her. After another forty-five minutes, we came across a huge tree. It had to literally be at least a hundred and fifty feet tall.

"Is that a Sequoia tree?" Robbie asked. "Don't they only grow in California?" Beck ran a hand through his hair before answering.

"Yeah, I think they said something about that in my history class..." As everyone else stopped to discuss the matter, I wandered around a little.

I could see more giant trees scattered across the smaller ones. Weird...did they just start growing here? I reached out to touch the trunk of one of them, and proceeded to walk around it, trailing my hand on the bark.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw what was halfway to the other side of the tree. A huge _hole_ was drilled right through the trunk. I hadn't been able to see it from the side, but it was seriously _giant._ That couldn't be natural.

A bare trail cut through the forest on either side of the tunnel. I walked through to the other side and found a couple bright sheets of metal nailed to the wood. I recognized them as the signs people put on nature trails. "No biking." "Horseback Riding." Those and an arrow pointing the direction we were going.

"Guys!" I yelled. Those idiots were still arguing with each other. "Guys, you've got to come see this!"

**OHMIGOD! It's almost over! And don't worry, I never had the intention of killing Cat. But it was fun to see your reactions :D There's going to be one, maybe two more chapters.**

**ohsnapitzzhannah: Actually, those are my favorite couples too, but I didn't want Tori to be in the story very often, so...I stuck Andre with Cat. Haha XD **


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